BlackBerry Desktop Sync with Linux

I’ve posted before about this topic, but one of the things that holds me back from using Linux exclusively on my desktops is the lack of support for Desktop Sync’ing with the BlackBerry. I’m not one to get involved with the near religious debates about what OS to use and why. My reason for wanting to use Linux exclusively is simple – my production servers are on linux as are my development servers (makes sense so far), but my primary desktop is an XP box (although I do some development from my Linux laptop). It seems to be an unnecessary inconvenience to deal with X servers on Windows since none of the ones I use (Exceed 8.0 and Cygwin) are as stable as using X on a Linux box. I also don’t like fussing with weird character set incompatibilities when I make the mistake of modifying a file locally on a XP box and then have issues with it on Linux. I don’t know of an Open Source Solution so I emailed PocketMac, the company that makes BlackBerry sync for the OS X.

Here was my brief email:

Hello,

Since you already have a solution for the Mac, I would imagine it wouldn’t be too difficult to port your application to Linux. I would gladly pay for the application if you were to develop it. (FYI, I use Fedora and Evolution).

Thanks,

Eric Goh

And the quick response I received:

Hi Eric,

Can you tell me more about what features you would like to see in such an application? Are there particular Linux applications that you would like to sync with? Also, is there a particular flavor of Linux that you favor?

Lauren
PocketMac

Wow, I’m quite impressed. I rarely get a response from companies I email about product features or requirements. If anyone else is interested, please do email them so they can determine demand. If you have specific requirements, let me know. I’ll start collecting them and will aggregate and forwarding them on.

eGoh (Eric Goh) - Technology entrepreneur, product management professional, fountain of esoteric knowledge. Currently located in Austin, TX but New York, Boston, and San Francisco will always have a place in his heart.